The Bead Business Part 3: Considerations About Selling Beadwork to Stores and Galleries

So now you have your beadwork, and you have all the required licenses. You are chomping at the bit and you want to start selling your work. What are your next considerations? What are your options?

You will of course need to decide where you are going to try to sell your beadwork. Will you sell at a store? On line? Or at shows? Each venue has its benefits and problems. Lets start with the stores.

Stores can be gift shops, galleries, or any other variety of brick and mortar store that you can envision your work being part of. If your work compliments the rest of the store’s items, it might be worth taking a chance in trying to sell your beadwork at that store.

Your first assignment before you approach a store or gallery owner or buyer is to visit the store that you hope to sell your work to. This will take a lot of time, gas and footwork. While it is great to sell your work in a gallery in your home town, it is a great idea to venture out and try to sell your work some distance from your home, especially if you live in a small rural town. Try to hit a larger metropolitan area that will get the foot traffic, and have people with money to spend!

When you visit the store/gallery, try to be as honest with yourself as you can be. Does your work compliment the other items in this store or is it at cross purposes? For example, if the store is a Christian themed store, and you make New Age or Goddess related items, it would not be a good fit no matter how wonderful your work is. Of course, this is an extreme example of a non-fit, but you should really be considering how your beadwork will fit in the store.

Here are some questions that you should ask yourself when you are considering selling your work to a store or gallery. 

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• Does the store have a theme or style? How does your beadwork fit the theme or style?
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• What is the quality of the items in the store? Are most of the items imports? Or are they artsy handcrafted items?
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• Will your work be in direct competition with another person’s work? If so, what would set it apart? 
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• Does the store attract the type of customers who would appreciate (buy) your beadwork? Have you even identified your customer target? Is she young and trendy? Is she older and conservative? 
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• How would your work be displayed in the store? Will it be in a case? Will it be in the open for multitudes of people to feel and touch day in day out? 
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• Does the jewelry have tags that identify the artist or only the shop? How do you feel about this? 
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• What are the price points for work similar to yours (even if of a different media)? In other words, are all the earrings offered at $12.99-$18.99 when your earrings are in the $45-$50 range?

Now let’s say you found a store or gallery that you would like to try to have your work displayed in. How do you go about getting your work accepted by the owner or buyer?

To be continued next time!